Contracts pertaining to tasks and projects can involve multiple parties providing services, funding, and loan services and involve multiple stages with a host of imbedded timelines. Like dominoes, completion of the whole project depends on accurate performance of activities and timing that makes up the parts. Although all of this information can and has been tracked on paper or by computer in the past, “tracking” in the passive sense, did not provide the pro-active prompts necessary to keep a project moving toward completion nor a dynamic interface providing real time changes and interaction by participating parties.
The design and construction industries are highly fragmented and are riddled with inefficiencies, the largest one being how to get paid on a timely basis so that progress on the project can continue. There are conflicting interests relative to the signing of releases, provision of payment to subcontractors and vendors, and the distribution of money to contractors without a means to assure it is properly distributed to those needing payment. Generally, getting paid for services will require a contract and a schedule of values to invoice against over the contract period. The normal turn around time for partial payment in this environment can exceed 45 days, sometimes 90 days. Moreover, the process of requesting payment, obtaining approvals therefore, and transfer of funds is not consistent month to month. The number of man hours spent per year tracking documents necessary to effect all the partial payments in a large project is staggering. What was needed was a system accessible by all parties that could facilitate the dynamic management of the tasks, materials, and scheduling, and also provide a way to shorten the turn around time from bill to payment for recurring payments.
In addition to design and construction, facilities management, legal services, financial services, product development and manufacturing all present the same need i.e. the need to manage recurring payments for long term service contracts. This need requires a remedy for the exchange of money for services wherein money will only be paid upon release by the payee of any obligations to pay and the release will only be provided upon receipt of payment.
The objectives of the present invention are:
To provide a web-enabled pay application service to expedite, organize and synchronize the payment process between payors and service provides wherein each is a party to a contract.
To facilitate any contract for services that requires a recurring pay request, approval sequences and disbursements.
To automatically prepare, forward and execute an authorized lien waiver as part of the payment process;
To minimize the time and tasks presently required to obtain waivers and complete payments.
To reduce error associated with inaccuracies of multiple entries and recordkeeping, provide automatic email notification of process steps in the payment process, create a paperless process facilitated by digital signature sign-offs and provide password-keyed variable access to different parts of the system based on the identity and function of the party holding the password.
To allow full reporting capabilities to monitor on-going changes to schedule of values, budgets, completion, materials, etc.
To allow for multiple parties to integrate into a master pay request including sub contractors and vendors.
To provide a “bill pay” option to release funds to sub contractors or vendors.